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Princess Pumpalot: The Quest for the Purple Super-Farting Bean

Princess Pumpalot: The Quest for the Purple Super-Farting Bean is a bit like Ronseal - 'it does exactly what it says on the tin'. There's no hiding the attraction in this show, and let's face it which child doesn't like talking about and hearing pumps and farts?!

The stage area is very small in the style of an old-fashioned radio set, with a few props on a table. The lighting is very subdued and the venue has a Baroque feeling with red chandeliers, gold ceiling and mirrored walls. The 'Fart, fart, fart' song introduces us to one of the three characters - 'Guffy' who is Princess Pumpalot's best friend, then 'Cookie crumble' the Chef, and finally the Princess herself. Although, Cookie Crumble dresses up in many accessories to play the other parts in the Princess's radio play - including the baddies 'Prince Nastavia' and the 'Low-flying gnome'.

The Princess shows us exactly what happens when she eats the red bean 'big noisy fart' and the green bean 'silent but violent fart'. There were screams of laughter from the kids at these great moments of physical comedy. Guffy and the Princess follow the clues to try and find the whereabouts of the purple bean within 'Whiffyville', meeting various characters along the way. The jokes come thick and fast - 'gallery of modern fart', 'farting bureau of investigation', 'strictly come farting' and ‘sweetfart’ instead of ‘sweetheart’.

There is a large part of audience participation to keep the kids happy including dancing, chanting words, booing, doing the butterfly swimming stroke and even a bit of maths! There is also some adult humour tucked away too – Wind in the Willows quotes, plus zero hours contracts and Adrian Mole jokes. The biggest cheers came when the kids were asked to help get rid of the gnome by standing up, turning round and farting at him till he blew off the stage.

Hailey (8) and Isla (7) were two very happy young customers who spent the rest of the day concentrating very hard to emulate their heroine!

Children's Quotes

Hailey aged 8 thought the show was “pumptastic” and “fartazing”, whilst Isla aged 7 said, “Guffy and Princess Pumpalot were amazing” and “I loved doing all the silly things in the show”

A new children's book, Princess Pumpalot: The Super-Farting Bean Mystery, is to be published this week. Written in the style of a screenplay by children's author Robin Mitchell, Princess Pumpalot: The Super-Farting Bean Mystery is the second book in the Princess Pumpalot series.

What's the story?

Can Princess Pumpalot (The Farting Princess) and her best friend Guffy solve the mystery of the priceless purple super-farting bean? Aided by a set of bizarre clues from some of Wiffyville's more unusual residents including a werewolf, a mummy and a prisoner that isn't a prisoner, Princess Pumpalot and Guffy embark on a mind-boggling adventure to solve this 'whodunit'. On route, the brave duo are confronted at regular intervals by their arch enemies – Prince Nastavia and the Low-Flying Gnomes. Will Princess Pumpalot and Guffy succeed in their quest?

The first book in the series, Princess Pumpalot (The Farting Princess), introduced the public to a peculiar collection of inhabitants in the fictional world of Wiffyville including Low-Flying Gnomes and since then the characters from Princess Pumpalot have appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in stage shows based on the original book. The 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe production (which takes place at Le Monde in George Street) is based on Robin's new book.

Robin Mitchell said, "I'm amazed how popular Princess Pumpalot has become. Thankfully this is not a scratch and sniff book". I've deliberately written the book in the style of a screenplay to encourage children to take parts and read out loud. After the amazing success of the previous stage shows it seemed only sensible to base the 2017 Fringe show on the new book.

Author – Robin Mitchell

Robin Mitchell co-founded Edinburgh's original walking tour company, The Cadies & Witchery Tours in 1984 and has been a partner in this successful Edinburgh business ever since. He has written one novel - Grave Robbers, the top selling guide book What's Under the Kilt? and the children's books Princess Pumpalot (The Farting Princess) and Princess Pumpalot: The Super-Farting Bean Mystery.

Illustrations by Keli Clark

Keli Clark is one of Edinburgh's and East Lothian's better known artists. Keli's work encompasses a wide and varied range from: Scottish land and cityscapes, murals, works of magic and mystery, faeries, cats and birds. After this commission Keli can add a mummy, a werewolf and a bearded witch to her portfolio!

Keli Clark said, "I was delighted to be commissioned to illustrate the new Princess Pumpalot book. It was great to exercise my creative mind on completely new characters. You're not asked every day to draw the Toilet of Truth!"

Book Specifications:

Title: Princess Pumpalot: The Super-Farting Bean Mystery

Author: Robin Mitchell

Illustrator: Keli Clark

Publisher: The Cadies & Witchery Tours

Paperback: 128pp / h198mm x 128mm

Illustrations: Colour cover and 21 black & white illustrations

ISBN: 978-0-9522927-6-0 / Price: £6.99

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme was launched on Wednesday 7th June 2017. It's a mighty big programme which will require a lot of reading. You will find details of our children's show Princess Pumpalot: The Quest for the Purple Super-Farting Bean on page 42. #Fart2017